subject: Learning About Angeles City [print this page] Learning About Angeles City Learning About Angeles City
Angeles City is located in the province of Pampanga, Philippines. The city is categorized as a 1st class city. It functions autonomously from Pampanga and has a total population of 314,493 individuals as of August 2007. The City is served by the Macapagal Airport that can be found inside the Freeport Zone placed in the northwestern portion of area. It is widely recognized as the "Entertainment Capital of Central Luzon". The Center for Kapampangan Studies said that the famous dish "sisig" originated from the locale and has been offered in the city's restaurants since the 1700's.
SPANISH ERA
Gobernadorcillo Angel Pantaleon and his wife, together their followers, discovered a new settlement which they called Culiat because of the numerous vines in the area. The settlers led by the gobernadorcillo cleared the land for rice farming. The gobernadorcillo constructed his first house with materials that can be found in the area at the northwestern portion of Sapang Balen and the road that led towards Porac. It was later given to the Catholic Church and transformed into a cemetery named "Campo Santong Matua".
AMERICAN ERA
The US Army started attacking Filipino soldiers on August 10th, 1899 on the locale, supremely confident in capturing the area in just a few days. But the Filipino Army defending the area refuse to give up easily and fiercely attacked the invaders for three months. Finally, the town fell on November 5th, 1899. The Battle for Angeles was considered to be the longest conflict in the Filipino-American War in the province. This led to the rise of a US camp in Talimundoc, which is constructed near the railroad station in order to fully control the whole Luzon. General Frederick D. Grant started the 1st American Civil Government in January 1900 by choosing the first municipal mayor, thus formally starting American rule in the area.
INDEPENDENCE
The Philippines gained freedom from the US after the end of the Second World War on July 4th, 1946 but then would continue its relationship with America. The Treaty of General Relations approved on the country's Independence Day signaled the US's withdrawal from the Philippines except from their bases. The two parties also made a treaty on March 14th, 1947 that will allow the Americans to maintain control over the Air Base in Clark and the Naval Base in Subic for the next forty-four years. Clark Air Base served as the main base for the US air force in the whole Southeast Asian area that had the capability to host American military transport plans, which served the whole Western Pacific military command.
Due to the significant presence of the American military base, the locale has become the home to a big group of expatriates as many American chose to live permanently in the city. More than eight hundred thousand Americans were born in the country during the US occupation from 1846-1946.
ERUPTION OF MOUNT PINATUBO AND MODERN ANGELES
The City of Angeles was affected by the devastating eruption of Mount Pinatubo, which led to more than sixty thousand people being evacuated from the area. It was the 2nd biggest volcanic eruption of the 20th century and the biggest eruption that destroyed a heavily populated locale. Aside from destroying the agriculural lands, the eruption also affected the different industrialy building. There were no deaths reported inside the Air Base before the first volcanic eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, but more than 18,000 army personnel and their love ones were evacuated from the area.
Mt. Pinatubo's eruption forced the US Military to prematurely abandon the Air Base aside from the decision of the country's Senate in 1991 to no longer extend the Laurel-Langley agreement, which allows the US military to stay on the Philippines, thus permanently ending a long Filipino-American relationship. The American military never returned to the Air Base, officially turning over the facility to government officials on November 26th, 1991.
The cleanup of the Clark Air Base started in 1993 and it was renamed as CSEZ (Clark Special Economic Zone) by former President Fidel Valdez Ramos on April 3rd 1993. In 2001, the name of Clark Airport was changed to Diosdado Macapagal Airport in honor of the late President Diosdado Macapagal. The airport's airfield was remodeled be one of the most premiere airports in the Asian region.
The establishment of the Clark Special Economic Zone helped cushioned the loss of employment from the removal of the US base in the area. As of Today, Clark Freeport and Angeles form the growing hub for numerous developments as well as the entertainment capital of Central Luzon.
